Golden Tree Nails & Spa — Local services in New York

Tl;dr - During my visit today, Golden Tree Nails & Spa accepted far more clients than they had the capacity to serve, resulting in a miserable, 2+ long experience during which I ended up leaving before I was even able to get the manicure that I came for. Don't take on more clients if you don't have the technicians to serve the ones that are already sitting there, waiting. Will never go back here.

Full experience & review: I have gotten my nails done hundreds of times in NYC, so I know the drill & have fair expectations. I'm not exaggerating in saying that my experience today at Golden Tree was the worst I've seen in NYC to-date.

My friend and I selected Golden Tree for manis & pedis for my friend's 'wedding nails,' in advance of her wedding in a few days - a momentous appointment that we were so, so looking forward to. We called ahead and they confirmed they could seat us both together & get started at 2:15. We also explained that it would be in preparation for a celebration (her wedding), so we would appreciate being seated together.

We arrived right before 2:15, and they seated us in side-by-side pedicure chairs ... and, we sat ... and sat ... for half an hour. Finally, 30 minutes later, a technician started on my friend's pedicure. I sat there for 15-20 more minutes before a technician started on mine. My friend was finished before me, so they took her over to the manicure station and started her manicure. No attention was paid to ensuring that my friend and I were seated next to each other, so another woman was seated next to my friend in the meantime.

By the time my pedicure was finished, I was taken to the very end of the manicure line, where there was an open seat. Then, once again, I sat...and sat...and, about 20 minutes later, by the time my friend was halfway through her manicure, a technician came over to check on my polish removal.

Once again, I sat there, totally unattended for another 15-20 minutes, until a technician came over to check on me and actually finish the polish removal, so I could even START the manicure. By this point, we were getting close to two hours at the salon, and my friend was almost done with her manicure, so I calmly explained that I would be leaving after the polish was fully removed. The technician then offered to simply 'rush' my manicure - which I was not at all interested in doing.

Meanwhile, my friend was 90% of the way through her manicure when her technician got up and left her sitting there, fully unattended and with no explanation or apology, for 15-20 minutes.

My friend was standing at the counter by the time I was able to get up and pay for the pedicure and polish removal. While we both paid, the service we received was absolutely abysmal, so we tried to just leave and put the experience behind us ... when a different technician followed us to the door, harassing us for a tip and not letting us leave. This felt incredibly inappropriate given the experience we had, and my friend was on the verge of tears, as an appointment that was supposed to have been relaxing, happy, and exciting had turned into a stressful mess.

Golden Tree, please do better by your clients - our experience today was unacceptable. Hopefully others after us have a much better experience...

Golden Tree is a NIGHTMARE! ALL The reviews here that say that the staff is EXTREMELY RUDE are correct! The manager/owner, whatwever that woman is at the front desk she is the WORST! And she doesnt care! DO NOT waste your money on this place! I arrived at 8:40pm and asked if they were open. The woman on the front desk said yes and asked me what I wanted to do. I asked for a simple mani-pedi. She told me to pick colors and another woman who didnt speak English tried to sell me extra services with the help of a printed menu. As soon as I refuse and say I wanted to do only the standard mani/pedi, they started rushing me to pay "immediately" because they "close in 15 minutes". What??? If she had not started my pedicure I would have left that moment. After that it was pure disaster! The pedicure lasted 12 minutes. That! Only 12 minutes. It was literally half done. At the end, I paid 20%tip and the woman still looked at me like if she had received 10 cents. I hope at least that they sanitize those instruments. NY City sanitary officers should stop by that...

Staff friendly and massage great - but their gel manicure machines left an awful gel residue on each of my fingertips, and it felt terrible and frustrating for 3 full days - like my fingertips were as dry as sandpaper with no relief; neither buffing nor nail polish remover got it off - and I probably have another 3 days to go before it wears off. I called the manager to tell him, and he eventually apologized, but he reiterated that they clean them twice a week. Well, that may or may not be true, but they gotta try something else, because that is a very disappointing end to an otherwise pleasant experience, and I didn't get the impression that they would change anything on their end. Would have given them 4-5 stars if not for this part of it. So, maybe if you do go, just put something on your fingertips before you put them in their gel machines?? But prob better to go somewhere else - there are so many great little nail...